It's the Little Things
by FueledByEnvy
Summary: She wheeled on them suddenly, her shoulders set like she was prepared to tip the car over. "Look, this is really not my day," she began, all fire and brimstone and dirty leggings, "I've broken three nails, my hair smells like outside, that last cave was a bust, and I'm lost. Please, I am really not the person you want to be hitting on right now."


**i'm backkkkkkk.**

 **those on my mystic messenger tumblr saw this was coming like six hours ago, but i hadn't actually planned on getting it out today! I'm really happy to actually be starting another full-blown fic, and I hope people support this as much as they've supported the others!**

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The Regalia's engine had a purr to it - the boys all knew that, and they were, if anything, surprised that _that_ hadn't garnered her attention.

"You need a ride, Miss?" Gladiolus was voted the one to speak, after a moment of Prompto stumbling over his words; of Noctis pretending to be asleep; of Ignis bringing the car to a slow roll beside her. She was walking down the side of the road, her arms folded across her chest, dirt splayed across her legs - though all she did was continue to stare forward on her trek, as if a car-full of grown men weren't at her side.

Gladiolus did not _hesitate_ \- who was he, after all? - though there was the briefest of pauses as he contemplated how to take this. "... Miss-"

She wheeled on them suddenly, her shoulders set like she was prepared to tip the car over. "Look, this is really not my day," she began, all fire and brimstone and dirty leggings, "I've broken three nails, my hair smells like outside, that last cave was a bust, and I'm lost. Please, I am really not the person you want to be hitting on right now."

This had been Gladiolus's idea - he was not one to want to watch a woman walk down the side of the road with the sun beating down on them, and Prompto had backed him up. Ignis was skeptical; it wasn't very smart to pick up a stranger with a Prince in the car, was it? Noctis had declared he hadn't cared, though at this very moment, he was leaning towards Gladiolus, saying under his breath, _"Leave her."_

"W-we can't do that!" said Prompto, suddenly sitting up straight in his seat, awoken from his stupor. Gladiolus took another moment to gather his bearings, and finally began speaking as the girl started on her way walking again. "No, really, we're not trying to hit on you. We're offering you a ride - it's hot out here."

This made her pause and turn back towards them. She was very obviously sweating, beads across her forehead, smearing her makeup - the boys could not tell if she'd been crying or if it was the unbearable heat that was causing her mascara to smear under her eyes, dark circles that only made her look more miserable. She was wearing a light sweater with little heart patches over her shoulders, where she'd pushed up her sleeves as much as she possibly could, her hair tied into a high ponytail that swung like a chocobo's tail.

The girl seemed to think about this - before she said, "I would have just died out here, either way this goes," and stepping towards the car. "I'm going to Lestallum."

"We were too, don't worry," said Gladiolus, smiling at her, opening the door for her. He was prepared to get out and let her sit in the middle, though Noctis touched his arm before he could, shaking his head. "Sit next to me," he told him, and though Gladiolus gave a sigh, he still scooted over and let the girl sit.

"I-I'm Prompto." He did a complete 360 in his seat, turning to look back at the girl, while Ignis told him to sit back down. She looked up to him, before she slowly nodded her head.

"Elysia. I'm Elysia," she told them, slowly pulling down her sleeves as the Regalia began moving again, reaching to brush the caked up dirt from her knees. "... Thank you guys for the ride, by the way. I'd been walking for hours."

"Not a problem, don't worry, Miss Elysia," said Ignis from the front, glancing to her in the rear view mirror, and the boys were surprised when she laughed.

"Really, you all don't need to keep calling me Miss," she told them, leaning back in her seat. "I'm not working right now. I'm not gonna call you guys Mister or anything. Here's Prompto, but what's everyone else's names? I feel like I need to know the names of the guys who are either kidnapping me or saving me."

She was looking around in the car, while Prompto beamed from the front. He did not seem bothered by the kidnapping comment, though he was beyond proud that his name not only got remember but that he was the only one to tell her.

Ignis looked at her, adjusting his glasses, before he nodded his head. "Very well, Elysia. My name is Ignis."

Gladiolus nudged her with his elbow, grinning down to her. She was tiny beside him, still with her hands on her knees, little black Chocobo tail bouncing in the wind. "Gladio," he told her, and she nodded her head at him, smiling back.

"What about you, kid?" she asked, leaning forward to look at Noctis, and he was very visibly taken aback by this. Did she just call him a kid? She did not seem very big herself beside Gladiolus, face round and glasses too big and circular for her face, jewels that he could not name protruding from them. With her sweater with its patches, he bargained that she looked much more like a _kid_ than he did.

"Noct," he told her still, and she nodded her head, taking that in. She looked like she was about to say something, though she turned away, commenting instead, "Nice car."

"You mentioned something about a cave earlier, mind saying what that was?" Gladiolus asked, and she shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm an archaeologist, just looking for some specific artifacts while I'm out this way. Like I said, wasn't worth it. I left my car back in Lestallum for my friends, I didn't realize how far away this was." She stretched back, arms above her head and back arched in the seat. "I don't think I've ever walked that far in my life."

"You might wanna be a little more careful, wouldn't want you to get hurt with the deamons running around here," he responded, and she smiled, shrugging her shoulders.

"Not to say they aren't scary, but they don't tend to bother you too much if you manage to run past them," she told them, before she reached forward, touching Prompto's shoulder - he let out a squeak, jumping in his seat. "Would you mind turning the radio up? I like this song."

He was frozen, though Ignis turned the radio up for her, and they went quiet, listening to the song as it hummed its way out of the Regalia. It was quiet in the car until they pulled into Lestallum and Elysia suddenly sat up on her knees, pointing to the outpost.

"Right there," she said, glancing back at Ignis, before she quickly turned away, back to the gas station. "Servius!" she yelled, placing her hands to the door of the car. She had barely waited for Ignis to pull the parking brake up before she was barreling out of the Regalia and towards another car, a blonde boy leaning back against the door of it. The car was square and low to the ground, in desperate need of a washing, though the boy there had no qualms of a dirty back. He did not seem upset though did not seem happy, though when he saw Elysia get out from the Regalia he shoved off the door, going towards her, meeting her halfway.

"Where have you been!" he was saying, though Elysia was just continuing over him.

"Is Achillea any better?" Elysia said instead, though all Servius did was place his hands back to her shoulders, keeping her still and attempting to ground her.

"Ely, stop, be quiet," was all he said in response to that, and Elysia hesitated, looking up to him with her brow furrowed.

"... Um, these guys helped me get here. They've been pretty helpful," she murmured to him, and he glanced over her shoulder at the boys as they got out of their car and went to hers. There was a girl in the passenger seat; they could barely see her through the tinted windows, though her shape was there, her head leaning against the window. Atop the car another boy sat, his knees gathered up to his chest, pushing his glasses up with just the smallest bit of disinterest, as if this was something that happened often and this was not the first time Elysia had gotten herself lost.

He was about to bow his head to them, though there was something that made him pause and drop his hands from Elysia's shoulders. "They gave you a ride?" he asked, and she nodded, looking up to him and frowning.

"Servius, what's up-"

"Ely, don't you know-"

"What is happening?"

The four boys turned their heads back to the Regalia, to a girl who was walking her way around it, hands full of shopping bags. From the top of Elysia's car, the other boy waved, calling, "Hey, Glo, did you get everything?"

She was still examining the paint of the Regalia, leaning down as she did so. "Servius, they have a Insomnia license plate," she proclaimed, squinting her eyes, reading the _RHS-113_ out loud, her numbers slow like she was making sure she was perfecting her announcement.

Servius nodded his head, watching her, while Elysia looked back and forth from him and the other boys. "Gloria, stop, that's-"

Prompto went towards Gloria as she stood back up straighter from looking the car over, holding his hands out to offer to carry some of the bags for her. She smiled at him, cheeks pink from sunburn, her hair lilac and her roots showing, and went from being a petite, beaming girl to a feral human being in a matter of three seconds. The shopping bags were dropped to the ground of the gas station and she pounced at Prompto so quickly that the boys around her couldn't even react in time. They blinked, and then she had him in a headlock, pulling a dagger from her pocket and placing it to his neck.

"How did you get here?" she demanded, her voice loud enough to draw eyes. She was unflinching as the boys around her summoned their weapons, Gladiolus commenting, _"The one time he actually manages to speak to a girl."_

"G-guys!" Prompto was struggling, but for all the nice girl face she had put on, she kept her grip tight.

"How did you get here?" she repeated. She didn't raise her voice, though Noctis and Gladiolus glanced to Ignis still.

"Wait, Gloria, they weren't trying to do anything, really! They gave me a ride back here!" Elysia was saying. The boy on the car roof leaned to the side, gently knocking his knuckles against the passenger's window before he slid down the windshield and onto the hood.

"G-Glo!" Servius went towards her, though didn't attempt to step past any of them. "Stop! That's the Prince!"

There was a shock that went through them - Elysia felt it in her neck, turning back to Servius and going to his side, while Gloria's arm twitched, her dagger flinching against Prompto's pulse point.

"... Okay, Servius, I'm glad to see that you've gotten your sense of humor back, but-"

"No, really," he objected, turning towards her. At that, Gloria gave a laugh, dropping her arms and pocketing her dagger. She held up her hands to the boys, motioning towards their weapons.

"I'm so sorry!" she said to Prompto, glancing to him, while he held his neck, going to hide behind Gladiolus. "Really, I am! We... aren't too sure what's been happening in the city, and we've gone through a lot getting here, I was just being careful. You know how it is, I'm sure!"

After a moment of her laughing, the weapons slowly faded. She nodded her head at that, bowing to them. "No hard feelings!" she chirped.

Servius stepped in-between them at that, standing in front of Gloria. "Very sorry. Thank you for bringing Ely back to us, Your Highness," he said quietly, while Gloria stood up straight, hiding under his arm.

Noctis watched them for a moment, watched how Gloria pressed her side against Servius's, watched how his arm tightened around her in case this was not settled. "... It wasn't my choice to pick her up. Thank Gladio, he wanted to pick her up."

Servius looked up to them, nodding slowly, "... Then, thank you-"

"How are you _alive_?!" It was suddenly Elysia grabbing at them, pulling at Noctis's jacket and yanking him down to her level. He tried to pull away, though he couldn't, her grasping at him with her broken, cracked nails. "I mean - sure, I'm glad, but...!"

She pushed him away, shaking her head. "Please, you guys... Do you know how it is in the city? We were out... when it happened. People we care about were still there - we lost someone-"

"Who are these people?"

The girl from the passenger seat had silently climbed her way out of her seat, the boy from the roof at her side. He was smaller than her, though her entire presence seemed folded in on itself and silent. Her hair was blonde, gathered up in a low ponytail, her bangs stringy and greasy. Her eyes looked to be a blinding blue, though even they seemed sunken in, dark bags underneath them as if she hadn't slept in a week.

"Achillea! Sorry I've been gone so long, I'm back now," Elysia said, going towards her, though she stepped past her and towards Noctis.

"Did they say you were the Prince?"

Her voice was monotone and rough. The sweatshirt she wore was at least two sizes too big for her, and had to be extremely suffocating in the Lestallum heat, though she still had it gathered around her, had her hands wrapped in the sleeves. He watched her as she walked towards him, and for some reason she seemed the most intimidating of the bunch. She was as pale as a spirit, freckles little stark blots of color.

It took him a moment to nod his head - when he did, she seemed to collapse even more in on herself, stopping, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"... You weren't in the city when it got attacked, were you," she murmured quietly, though it was not a question - it was a statement, and the others knew that, glancing silently towards each other. "You... You were already on your way to the Oracle."

Noctis stayed silent, and at that Ignis stepped forward. "Miss, I'm afraid that we have no idea of the exact state of the city, though we assure you we will do everything we can to find it out."

This only seemed to make everything worse - she took a shuddering breath that made Noctis flinch like he'd been hit, her shoulders shaking, and swallowed before she spoke. "It's the reason we came to Lestallum... to see if anyone we were missing was here. I... I guess it is very good that we all weren't in the city when it was attacked."

Noctis finally glanced to her, though she was already turning away, saying to the smaller boy, "Manius, you left the door unlocked, correct..."

"W-we're going to help," he said, and she stopped in her steps without turning back to him. "I'm glad that you weren't hurt in everything... And we've all lost people in the attack. I... I hope that, whoever you're looking for, is okay."

She glanced over her shoulder at him; they made eye contact for a brief moment before she gave a small smile with chapped lips. There was not exactly feeling behind it, though it was still there. "I'm very sorry about your father," she told him, before she went to the car.

Once the door closed behind her, Elysia let out a breath, turning towards them. "Well... We all deserve a night in a hotel, right? My car is barely big enough to fit everyone, and definitely not the size for sleeping... Let us pay you guys back for the ride."

Gladiolus stepped forward, shaking his head. "There's no need for that, we can pay for it ourselves. Don't bother yourself with that."

She was already shaking her head. "Really. We've got a lot to talk about, anyway. Let me go tell Achillea... Manius, can you help me grab the bags?"

He looked up to her, and looked like he was going to tell her no, before he huffed. "Fine... But you're not tricking me into carrying your bag again."

They went to the car, and Servius let out a breath, stepping towards them. He bowed his head again, and Gloria followed his example. "Really... Thank you so much," he told them. "I know it didn't look like much, but... Achillea hasn't smiled since we heard about the attack. If nothing else, please let us pay you back for that."

"And I'll fix that little mark of yours up!" Gloria offered, winking at Prompto. "It's just a little nick, but accidents happen!"

Achillea got out of the car again - she offered to help, though Elysia assured her that her and Manius could handle it. They went back to the group while Gloria picked up the shopping bags, grinning and clapping Prompto's back when he kneeled down to help her again. They went to the Leville and paid for two rooms, and while Achillea pulled her hood up tight over her head and curled up in one room, the other they gathered in. Elysia had offered her some company, though Achillea promised her that wasn't necessary, wrapping herself in all the blankets of the room.

"How did you all manage to get out of the city?" Ignis was asking as Elysia closed the door to the other room behind her, going to sit on the floor in front of Servius on the couch.

"We were already out of the city when it was attacked," Servius told them, though Elysia continued, leaning her back against the couch.

"I was going to an excavation, and they offered to come with me... We were going to go out to gamble afterwards. Can you believe that?" she murmured, folding her hands atop her knees. She chuckled, though it was self-deprecating.

"It was a really great coincidence that we decide to go out together that one day, at that specific time... What would have happened if we hadn't, you know?" Gloria said, leaning into Servius.

"Maybe this isn't any of our business... but why is Achillea like that? What happened to her?" asked Gladiolus.

Elysia glanced back to the three on the couch, while Manius pushed up his glasses. "Her boyfriend was still in Insomnia when it was attacked," he told them.

"Like she said, we've all lost people. Family, friends..." said Servius, "He... he was supposed to go with us that day, though, but he got called into work last minute. We were going to reschedule... but he just told us to go ahead, we could go some other day."

There was a pause, and Servius shook his head, letting out a breath. "I've known him my whole life. Gloria and I are engaged... he was supposed to be my Best Man."

Gloria had her hand on his arm. "We've tried to be positive. About the little things... Like, that we brought money with us to gamble, and it transferred pretty well into gil. Or... that we at least had one change of clothes to spend the night at the casino... We have each other. We've made it work."

There was a pause in the room, before Ignis nodded. "... We can understand that," he said quietly.

"I can't believe," Elysia began. She gave a laugh again, though this time it was hearty, pushing up her bejeweled glasses to rub at her eyes, "that, out of all the cars to pick me up, it was the Prince's."

"The little things," Gloria repeated, with just the smallest smile. "How's your little cut?"

She motioned towards Prompto, who had a Moogle-themed bandage splayed across his neck. He hesitated, reaching up and placing his palm atop it, before he laughed.

"I dunno," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "I think it would be healing a little better with a Chocobo shaped band-aid."

"I'll remember that for next time," Gloria assured with another wink.

"Thank you, again, for all you've done for us. Just today," Servius repeated, and Gloria nudged him with her elbow.

"Geeze, stop being so uptight, they're gonna think we're super boring," she said, turning to grin at Noctis, "Maybe we can invite them to the wedding. Can you imagine how good a wedding gift from the Prince would be?" She clicked her tongue at him, while Elysia intervened.

"Hey, hey, not unless we get invited to the own Prince's wedding. I'd love to see the Oracle's dress in person," Elysia rocked forward on her bottom, reaching to nudge Noctis's knee.

She laughed at the face he made in response, while Gloria laughed, standing from her spot. "We promise, we can throw a party, Your Highness. You won't regret it, and if your present is at least a couch, we won't either." She nudged Servius's shoulder. "I'm gonna go grab my phone charger. Need anything?"

He shook his head, catching her hand however. They had matching rings - nothing special, just little gold bands. He rose her hand to his lips, kissing the ring, looking up to her. "Just come back soon."

"Lame," commented Manius from the other end of the couch.

Gloria laughed, reaching and tapping Servius's nose. "That was lame. I'll be back in a few minutes, loser."

Servius smiled as he watched her leave, before he turned back to them, stretching across the couch and shoving the phone from Manius's hands. "Don't call me lame," he said, and Manius mocked his voice in a high pitched squeal as he went to collect his phone.

"We wouldn't act like this at the wedding-" Elysia began to laugh, smiling at the boys, though there was a pounding on the door before Gloria pushed it open, her phone charger tangled around her hands. She looked to Servius before she stepped in, turning towards Elysia on the floor, wrapping the cord around her wrist.

"I - Achillea isn't in the room. She's gone."

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 **I have a reallyyyyyy bad track record with first chapters for fics, but I feel like this one is one of the best ones I've done for a fic (believe it or not!)! So, yeah! Please review and all that jazz, thank you for reading and following my FF during that hiatus!**

 **(also this is going to be published on my ffxv blog on tumblr chocobro-squad so dont report it if you see it please lmaoooo)**


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